FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 5, 2016

Long Island Man Indicted for Murder of
Brooklyn Restaurant Owner during Botched Robbery

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 40-year-old man has been indicted for murder and other charges for the shooting death of the owner of L&B Spumoni Gardens Italian Restaurant, who was ambushed outside his home in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. The victim was carrying $15,000 in cash in a plastic bag when he was killed.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “We allege that this defendant was lying in wait outside the victim’s home, then ambushed and shot him to death in cold blood. This was a calculated and senseless murder of a beloved business man and I intend to prosecute this crime to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Andres (“Andy”) Fernandez, 40, of Melville, Long Island. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and ordered held without bail. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life if convicted of the top count with which he was charged.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on June 30, 2016, at about 6:40 p.m., the victim, Louis Barbati, 61, left his restaurant, L&B Spumoni Gardens, located at 2725 86th St., in Gravesend, Brooklyn. He was carrying a plastic bag containing $15,000 in cash.

About an hour earlier, the defendant, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, walked to the vicinity of the victim’s home on 12th Avenue in Dyker Heights and waited, the evidence shows. At about 7 p.m., the victim arrived at his home, parked his car at the side of the house and got out holding the bag of cash.

The defendant then allegedly walked across the street and shot the victim several times, killing him. He subsequently ran, without taking the money, entered a late-model Acura and fled. The defendant was present at the murder scene and at L&B Restaurant earlier that day, according to the investigation.

Surveillance images of the defendant were distributed by the New York City Police Department and he was identified by several witnesses. He was arrested by federal authorities on November 3, 2016.

The Acting District Attorney thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York for their assistance in the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Carvajal, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Emily Dean, also of the Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Chief.